5 things you didn’t know about your morning coffee

Sipping on a cup of coffee whilst reading this? We thought so. If you need a morning caffeine hit to function, then you’re not alone.

To celebrate International Coffee Day we have rounded up the five most amazing facts about coffee that you didn’t know about. Prepare to have your mind blown.

1. Decaf isn’t actually caffeine free

“If someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level present in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee,” says Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., a professor and director of UF’s William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine. Specifically ask for caffeine free if you don’t want the hit.

2. If you’re on the pill, read this

Women metabolize caffeine faster than men which means that we process it quicker. Smokers process it twice as fast as non-smokers and women on the contraceptive pill actually process it a third of the normal rate for women. Basically women on the pill have caffeine in their bodies for four hours longer than women who aren’t taking the pill, according to the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine. Caffeine can be toxic in large doses.

3. Coffee makes you smarter

Drinking a cup of coffee will make you more productive. It will improve your memory and speed up your reaction times. Vital for a sleepy early morning meeting.

4. Two cups a day will make you live longer

Yes, it’s true. Harvard University found that men who drank two or more cups of coffee a day lived 10% longer than men who didn’t drink coffee and women lived 15% longer. Impressive!

5. Caffeine actually kicks in straight away

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that caffeine kicks in immediately, giving you a high. It usually takes between 30 to 60 minutes for caffeine to reach its peak level in the blood, but if you need a quick morning energy boost then a coffee is your best bet.